2006 World Championships   More World Championship news       Tournament info: Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico claim win No 2 as USA start successfully

Caguas, Puerto Rico, August 14, 2005 – Hosts Puerto Rico collected their second win from as many matches after beating Mexico 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-15) while USA opened their campaign with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-9) win over Barbados on the second day of the FIVB Women’s World Championship second round tournament (NORCECA D) in Caguas, Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Puerto Rico, who beat Barbados 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-16) on the opening day, took 90 minutes to beat Mexico, who also lost 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23) to Canada on Saturday.

Meanwhile USA, playing their first match of the tournament, made light work of Barbados, taking just under an hour to record their opening win. Canada had the bye.

The top three finishers in the tournament will advance to the 2006 World Championship final round in Japan as members of the NORCECA zone.

Five other teams – Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Jamaica – will vie for three additional NORCECA slots for the final round at the “NORCECA E” World Championship second round tournament in Santo Domingo from Aug. 24-28.

In all, 24 teams will compete at the 2006 World Championships from Nov. 16-Dec. 3 – seven from Europe, six from NORCECA, four from Asia, three from Africa, two from South America, the host team (Japan) and the 2002 champion (Italy).